If you’re someone who cannot get enough beauty products, Seoul is the city for you. If you’re like me, and requested your secret santa get you the latest Chanel nail polish (sorry to my cousin, Justin) or ended more than one sleepover not with girl talk but with your friend(s) falling asleep while you finished your nightly skincare regimen (sorry, Mal), then you need to make a K-Beauty wish list, stat. Hell, you probably already have one.

Once I heard we may go to Seoul, I started making mine. Living in Asia has changed how I take care of my skin in more ways than one. Double cleansing? Love it. Embrace your pale? Sure. And there are certain K-Beauty products I’ve been waiting to try that can be hard to find here in Japan — maybe you can’t import them or maybe they’re at a hidden beauty superstore I’ve yet to discover — I wanted them straight from the source.

With our anniversary just days away, Craig sealed his Husband of the Year award helping me track down some of these products, many of which have become popular in the states as of late. Will my skincare routine expand to 11 steps like women in Korea adhere to? I wish I could say I wasn’t almost there anyway.

But these are the products I worked some magic to fit into my tiny suitcase and I can’t wait to try. I’d read about them on various sites and blogs and I’ll be sure to post a follow up once I try them all. Happy shopping, fellow beauty addicts!

AmorePacific Treatment Toner — The second of my big-ticket items (not sorry), this one contains another popular ingredient — red ginseng — to calm and tone.

MISSHA Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence — This guy’s supposed to be a dead ringer for a certain very pricey Japanese essence. So far, I’ve been using it in the morning and it does seem to give me a little glow. The significantly lower price sold it for me.

It certainly has been a busy couple of weeks and Craig and I have been doing our best to make the most of the weekends. We recently explored Chinatown in Yokohama in celebration of my half birthday (when it’s the last year of your 20s, you get to celebrate half birthdays in my book). And just this week were in Kurashiki, which is the furthest south we’ve traveled on Honshu, the main island.

Enjoy some of the happy sights from the past couple of weeks that made me smile, starting with this gorgeous garden in Yokohama. More to come this weekend!

Xiao long bao (soup dumplings) will never get old.

Shanghai-style xiao long boa, which were mighty tasty but mighty difficult to eat.

No Chinatown trip would be complete without Peking duck and this one was just a part of a far-too-big spread that left us wattling home.

Discovering the ancient in Kurashiki.

It’s an honor to be invited into someone’s home to share a meal and no better way to learn from each other. We were lucky to begin our trip to Kurashiki with such a warm welcome.

I wanted to share the two charities I donated to for the months of May and June: Mirai no Mori and Second Harvest Japan. I was introduced to these two organizations through my involvement with For Empowering Women (FEW) in Japan. Miri no Mori sends underprivileged children from throughout Japan to camp, giving them unique outdoor experiences and helping them learn English. Second Harvest Japan is the country’s first food bank, delivering groceries to families in need. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting members of each of these nonprofits and the work they’re doing couldn’t be more important.

Enjoy my web finds for the week!

If only I’d had the pleasure of listening to one of these commencement speakers. [Bloomberg Business]

How much would you guess the most valuable handbag in the world sold for? [The New York Times]

While the size of Tokyo can be overwhelming, what I love about it is there are always new neighborhoods and sights to explore. Just when I think I’ve learned an area, I stumble onto a new restaurant or shop. I can safely say we’re nowhere close to being bored here.

Work took me to some new areas last week for interviews and events and back to our old neighborhood as well. My sights for the week kick off with this news-inspired display in Ginza Station beneath department stores Matsuya Ginza and Mitsukoshi. My nerdy, journo heart just had to stop and give it a second look.

Happy Monday!

Enjoyed this fish platter (minus the rando macaroni and cheese with corn) from Aloha Kitchen while visiting with a friend.

Spotted this small urban farm in Setagaya.

Weekend strolls in Ginza are something I miss since moving to a different neighborhood.

These doner kebabs were just one tasty (and messy) thing we ate at the Nezu Shrine Azalea Festival (full post coming tomorrow).

Craig had a near-miss going through the torii, a problem I’ll never have, thankfully.

Another insane week has come to a close. Our taxes are done and now it’s time to get at least a little rest. Being an expat means the joy of the tax refund eludes us for yet another year, so to all our friends and family heading to the mall, home improvement store or travel agency this month, we don’t wanna hear about it salute you. My happy sights for the week kick off with this adorable new friend Craig made golfing today. I hope you have a great weekend!

As I mentioned in my last post, my attitude this Christmas was much different than the first one we spent in Japan. I didn’t really stress so much about what we did or where and we ended up having a wonderful weekend together.

For Christmas dinner, Craig and I enjoyed a nine-course meal at Vietnam Frog in Shiodome that was completely cilantro themed. Anyone who knows my dear husband knows he would sleep with cilantro in his pillow case if he could, so when we heard about it, we couldn’t pass it up. After that, we shared a beer at Délirium Café back in Ginza and then headed home for some Christmas cake and Facetime sessions with everyone back in the states.

The day after Christmas, we went a little less traditional. Or perhaps a lot. We decided we should do something that screams “American” after having Asian food for dinner the night before, and what’s more loudly American than Hooters?! It was an unconventional choice to say the least but some wings with a Long Island Iced Tea followed by a nice walk home is a unique holiday memory I know we’ll look back on and smile about.

Enjoy my happy sights from Christmas week, which kick off with the epic Christmas card I gave Craig!

This year, I did most of my holiday shopping online, but there is no disputing Tokyo is an amazing place to buy whatever gift is on your list. Whenever I’m heading back to the U.S. or want to help a visitor find something special to take back with them, I usually head to one of these five places with them:

Matsuya Ginza
Hands down, my top department store. Matsuya Ginza offers the best fashion and beauty products (including top Japanese and Korean brands), but the magic really happens downstairs. The bottom two floors are a high-end Japanese grocery and prepared food market where you can find a variety of gift boxes at all price levels. Sweets, rice crackers, cakes, wine and macaron are all down there.

MUJI
For the minimalist in your life, MUJI is paradise. Their affordably priced home furnishings are stripped of fancy designs but don’t skimp on function. I’ve had my eye on their sleek, white diffuser for a while to add a little more zen to our city apartment. You can also shop fashionable basics like denim, knitwear and shoes. Before you go, check out their selection of packaged treats to try as well.

LOFT
LOFT is a store I find myself wandering through for unforeseeable amounts of time. The Japanese still love putting pen to paper and the selection of stationary, journals, planners and writing utensils is incredible. But they also have an enormous selection of Asian beauty products like sheet masks and makeup. I went in recently to pick up my new Moleskine planner and left with nail polish, a greeting card and probably something for the bathroom.

Ginza Natsuno
Anyone looking to bring home authentic Japanese pottery, chopsticks or other housewares needs to see this shop. My friend Phil introduced me to Ginza Natsuno when he came to visit and I’ve been back a few times since. Multiple floors are overflowing with beautiful handmade products. The staff will also beautifully wrap each of your items, perfect for the wrapping-averse like myself.

Tokyu Hands
Similar to U.S. stores like Michael’s or Bed Bath & Beyond, Tokyu Hands seems to have everything. There is a floor for stationary, a floor for bath products, a floor for home furnishings, a floor for convenient little kitchen gadgets and so on and so on. Another place to easily lose track of time, if I need something random, I can trust Tokyu Hands has it.

Today is one of my favorites of the holiday season: Cyber Monday. For the Type A, getting to sit down and blow through an entire to-do list in one session is perfection. I used to always put my holiday shopping off until Christmas Eve, which was especially funny since I worked in retail, but not anymore. Living far away, shipping everything is easier than carrying it back anyway. I finalized my list over the weekend so I’m ready to go.

I hope your week is off to a productive start. Enjoy my web finds for the week and keep your fingers crossed our bank doesn’t call.

Fun fact about Japan: One of the things I like the most about living in Tokyo are the business hours of doctors’ offices, the post office and even hair salons. Craig and I were able to make Sunday evening appointments at the eye doctor to get new prescriptions for glasses — there aren’t any all-in-one offices here, instead, you get a prescription from an ophthalmologist and then go to a glasses shop to pick out your frames and have your lenses made. It’s nice that businesses have adapted to the intense hours people put in at work here to allow them to carry out their personal business as well.

My happy sights for the week kick off with the basketball court hidden below the highway outside our place where Craig escapes for some exercise (pardon the grey sky).

A beautiful box of tea given to me by one of the women in my English class.

This week was full of plans. Making plans for Thanksgiving (our second here in Japan) and making plans to head back to the states in January. Also, making plans for my birthday next month. Well, Craig is making them and I’m awful at surprises so I’ll probably drive him close to insanity in the coming weeks.